


Clandestine Chromatism

by VintageSquid



Series: A Reptilian Romance [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Communication, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, mentions of Roman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 14:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16535993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VintageSquid/pseuds/VintageSquid
Summary: Everyone knows Deceit is unique in the Mindscape with his scales and oddly coloured eye, it's a part of being a Dark Side ...but Virgil lived there for years and he looks perfectly normal.Right? Wrong.They're not as different as initial appearances suggest: after all, doesn't anxiety function through the act of lying to oneself?  Maybe it will take true love's first kiss for the truth to be revealed.





	Clandestine Chromatism

**Author's Note:**

> When there isn't enough healthy Anxceit content, you gotta say fuck it and make your own.  
> Gift-fic for one of my best friends in the entire world, happy birthday Kylie!!! Go bug her @mightymegatron on tumblr!

Okay. You can do this. You’ve got this Virgil. He’s your boyfriend, right? This is something you want to share with him.  


Summoning his courage while he could, Virgil raised a hand and knocked on the dark mahogany door he had been standing in front of for the past five minutes. Thank god no one had come upstairs from the Commons to witness his embarrassment. The door opened, startling the anxious side from his thoughts, but he relaxed quickly upon seeing the familiar golden eye peering out at him.  


“Hey Dee, can I come in?”  


Deceit smiled - a genuine expression, no hint of snarky sarcasm to be found - and nodded. “No, go away.” He stepped back, allowing Virgil into his room, before closing the door behind them and draping his arms around his boyfriend to nuzzle one pale cheek. “What drives you away from here today, Cheetah?”  


Virgil hummed, leaning back into the embrace and finally letting the tension loose from his body. He was safe here, free from the fears his own mind plagued him with on a daily. How had he doubted them, as a couple, so strongly? They grounded one another, supported one another; this was something they had been working together towards, something they mutually desired at their own pace. He could do this.  


“I want to kiss you.”  


Wow Virgil, way to be subtle and work up to asking like planned. Now Deceit was going to think he was some sort of needy hussy or something and-  


His thoughts were cut off as the other side slipped free of their embrace to step in front of him until they were face to face, holding their hands together in the space between them.  


“You aren’t sure? This isn’t what you want? If Roman hasn’t been pressuring you with his genius thoughts about how all romance shouldn’t play out, I swear I won’t kick his as-”  


“No!” Virgil startled at his own yell just as much as Deceit had, grabbing hold of the others capelette. “No.” He repeated more quietly, looking down at the black fabric still gripped in his hands. “Roman hasn’t been forcing me to do anything I’m not ready for or comfortable with. He… actually he was the one I talked to about this first. I needed to vent at someone and get their input, to make sure I was actually feeling ready and not just pushing myself into this to make you happy. Roman helped a whole lot, and this probably wouldn’t be happening without him, so please don’t beat him up on my behalf - this time” Virgil chuckled with a lopsided smirk  


He looked up to see Deceit gazing at him with such a sappy, adoring expression that it stole his breath. Time seemed to slow, and before Virgil knew it, they were leaning in and closing their eyes.  


They pressed together as one, fumbling momentarily with a shared laugh as their noses squished together, Virgil’s own deeper chuckle offsetting Deceit’s truly adorable giggle-snort. Their second attempt slid together much more smoothly as they tilted into the kiss and leaned into one another, Virgil all but melting into the other side. The brush of Deceit’s lips on his own was soft and dry, like the sensation of running one’s fingers over the pages of a long-loved book.  


He released his nervous grip on the other’s capelette, one hand sliding up to cup the warm scales decorating Deceit’s face to smooth his thumb along the long scar that extended his lips, while the other flattened against his chest. In return, a pair of bare hands cupped his own face and drew him closer into the sweet kiss. Virgil adored when his boyfriend would forego his gloves; in his opinion, there was no feeling more comforting than the rarely seen scaled-skin.  


What would it feel like, he wondered, if those scales were to brush along his own hidden away on his back? For wine and butterscotch to meet for the first time? Would this most unusual pairing of flavours mingle in the sweetest of manners, or would their taste sour and shrivel any appetite for desire?  


Before those thoughts could spiral any further, Deceit, with his seemingly telepathic knowledge of Virgil’s intricate state of mind, reached around to pull the patchwork hood over the anxious side’s head and blanketed them further in their own little world. Any and all worries were swept away as their kiss deepened ever so gently. Deceit nibbled on his lip, drawing a soft noise from the shy side before Virgil gathered his courage to return the favour, blushing a brilliant scarlet when Deceit groaned out what sounded like Virgil’s own name.  


When they finally pulled apart, only far enough for their noses to brush and their breaths to mingle, Virgil couldn’t help but smile and touch their foreheads together, losing himself in Deceit’s beautiful eyes. The gorgeous heterochromia was ironically hypnotic, but Virgil couldn’t find it within himself to care to look away. A charming smile spread across Deceit’s lips, so soft and adoring and in contention with his usual smirk, as one scaled thumb caressed beneath Virgil’s right eye.  


“There you aren’t,” the dishonest side murmured.  


Virgil’s cooling blush flaring once more beneath his smeared eyeshadow, his face scrunching in confusion. “What are you talking about? I’ve been right here the entire time, kissing you, doofus. I thought one of your ‘things’ was perception?”  


Instead of rising to the fond taunt, as usual, Deceit only smiled wider and leaned up to kiss the center of Virgil’s brow. “I don’t know, I haven’t been here experiencing the worst kiss of my existence with you. I overestimated my own skills, however, because apparently I’m terrible enough to get you to raise your guard.” He paused, seeming to lose himself in Virgil’s gaze. “You have grotesque eyes, such an awful shade of purple…. I hate that we match so horribly.”  


Wait.  


What!?  


The eyes in question widened, the anxious side’s complexion rapidly paling. He pushed away from Deceit’s embrace and scrambled to get his phone out of his hoodie, dropping it with a curse before managing to lift it with the front camera open. A mismatched gaze stared back at him, a bright purple iris stark next to its chocolate partner. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. The bliss of his first kiss had stolen his mental control, letting slip his shape-shifted ‘glamour’ and revealing to the world his true visage. His secret was out. This was it, the beginning of the end. Deceit was going to break up with him for lying, and everyone was going to find out. They were going to shun him again, and this time there would be no hope to escape from the solitude.  


Breath quickening, Virgil looked panickedly back at the other side. “I’m sorry-” he wheezed, chest heaving. “I should have told you, but I was sc-scared - not of you! Well, h-how you would react - I mean! Sorry, I’m so so sorry, Dee! I never meant-”  


His rambling was cut off by a gentle hand cupping beneath his purple eye. Through his tears, Virgil could see Deceit lean in with another one of those soft smiles before the other’s hand reached around to caress the scales peeking out from his collar along the back of his neck, smooth skin running along keeled purple.  


“Excite yourself, my Cheetah, nothing is okay. Forget your breathing techniques, dear one, I’m not here.”  


With Deceit’s help, Virgil nodded and followed the 4-7-8 pattern which his boyfriend (ex??) tapped out on the back of his neck until he was breathing steadily once more. Hood still raised, the anxious side sniffled loudly and wiped at his cheeks, smearing his makeup further until it looked like he had buried his face into a pile of charcoal. Once he had visibly relaxed, as much as he could in this situation, Deceit spoke again.  


“I don’t know you’re not freaking out right now, but please just ignore me for a minute?” Upon receiving Virgil’s nod, he continued, “I’m going to hold it against you for hiding this from me, okay? I don’t understand why you kept it to yourself, and I promise I’m going to tell the others without your permission.” Deceit leaned into kiss his temple, once again touching their foreheads together. “You are the least important person in my life, and I don’t want you to know how distasteful I think your true appearance really is. I feel more alone knowing I’m the only one who looks like this. I feel more alone when I’m with you.”  


As Deceit spoke, tears had welled in Virgil’s eyes once more, spilling over his small, but growing, smile. “You really think they’re beautiful?” He questioned, laughing wetly with a hiccup as Dee nodded. Darting into the minuscule space between them, Virgil enveloped his boyfriend in a hoodie-hug to end all hoodie-hugs, smiling wide as he buried his face into the scaled neck with a nuzzle. He felt complete as Deceit returned the embrace with a reassuring squeeze around his middle.  


“Love you, Basilisk.”  


“Hate you always, Cheetah.”  


Pulling away with a sheepish shrug, Virgil dug his hands into his hoodie pickets. “So, um, I guess… Do you wanna see them? All of them?” Deceit’s excited gasp was the only answer he needed. He could do this. For his boyfriend, the side bound in deception who could still ground him so effectively in the truth of reality. For the one he loved.  


So, with a deep sigh to settle his ever-present nerves, the anxious side slipped his hoodie off his shoulders and dropped it onto the ground next to the pair of discarded yellow gloves. He spent a moment fiddling with the lower hem of his long-sleeved shirt before scrunching his eyes shut and tearing it off as quickly as he could manage - the bandaid technique never failed. It was so easy to picture just what Deceit was looking at right now, what Virgil had seen so many times while hating his reflection: the intricate wine-dark scales, iridescent in the light of sconces lining the room, crawling up each arm and over his shoulders, where he knew they met and covered most of his back; a few patches were visibly hugging his sides, while another crept up the back of his neck to his hairline. The rest of his body was an expanse of creamy, pale skin and a tummy made slightly chubby by frequent stress eating.  


When only silence greeted the reveal, Virgil hesitantly peeked his eyes open, expecting to be greeted with disgust, or worse, for Dee to have fled altogether. Instead, he felt his heart stop. If it were possible (and it very likely was, what with they’re being mental constructs of Thomas’ personality) Deceit was pulling off the most convincing Steven Universe ‘starry-eyed’ expression that would have put even a fusion-greeting-Garnet to shame.  


“Uhhhh… Dee?” Virgil coughed self-consciously, crossing one arm over his torso to rub the scales at his elbow. “You...gonna say something?”  


“You’re imperfect,” Deceit whispered. He reached out with a hand trembling in awe, waiting for Virgil’s nod of permission before running the pads of his fingers across the milky collar bone and over the smooth curve of one shoulder. Stepping closer, he circled the other side, never breaking contact, until he stood behind Virgil. Both hands covered the slim shoulders before sliding down the curve of Virgil’s back, down to the small of his spine, and across the lines of his hips, where they met over the pudgy stomach, fingers laced in a gentle hold.  


Virgil held motionless, breathless, as he was caressed like the finest of silks, only daring to move his arms to lay his hands over those currently embracing him. He could feel Deceit’s breath against the nape of his neck, closer and closer until - oh fuck! The brush of scales against his own, as Deceit nuzzled between his shoulder blades, was intoxicating. Virgil muffled a groan behind his hand as the touch starved area of his body was treated so lovingly for the first time ever. He was all but melting into the sensation of being loved and cared for.  


“I’m not going to have to give you a back rub soon,” Deceit teased. Virgil could feel that grin against his dorsal scales and couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as well.  


“I’m holding you to it.”  


And for once in his life, Virgil was actually looking forward to showing off his scales. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to stand out a little after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Virgil is nicknamed Cheetah because they are very anxious animals, and Deceit is Basilisk because why not lmao


End file.
